Hosts: West Germany
Winners: West Germany
Competing teams: 16
Where were England: Stuck at home partly thanks to that “clown” Tomaszewski
After the colour and excitement of Mexico, the 1974 finals were played against a backdrop of dark skies, heightened security and some uninspiring football.
Torrential rain blighted much of the tournament, while FIFA’s decision to introduce a second group stage where the top team in each group would contest the final hardly made for exciting football.
Add to that the fear of a terrorist attack similar to the one at the 1972 Munich Olympics and it’s fair to say this wasn’t a classic.
That said, not all was bad. Brazil might have been a shadow of their 1970s vintage, and won just two of their six games, but Holland were more than ready to pick up their mantle as the tournament’s most exciting team with their Total Football.
Hosts West Germany were considered favourites and topped their first group, despite famously losing to neighbours East Germany on a dreary night in Hamburg.
Yugoslavia scored the biggest win of the tournament with a 9-0 hammering of hapless Zaire and they made it out of Group B alongside Brazil, sadly leaving Scoltand in third place.
Holland and Sweden qualified from Group C, while Poland were the only side to win all three of their opening matches in Group D and qualified alongside Argentina.
In the second group stage, Holland and Brazil battled it out for a place in the final in their last match, with goals from Johann Cruyff and Johan Neeskens sealing the win for Rinus Michel’s brilliant side.
Their opponents were confirmed as West Germany, when the hosts scraped past Poland 1-0 in awful conditions in Frankfurt.
The final is best remembered for the fact that the Dutch were a goal up before the West Germans had even touched the ball, Neeskens converting from the penalty spot after Uli Hoeness had brought down Cruyff.
However, the Dutch appeared too complacent and the home side battled their way back into the game, finally running out 2-1 winners to claim their second title.
Did you know? Zaire’s players threatened to go on strike during the tournament after they learnt they would not be paid for competing. They were persuaded to carry on, but lost the next game 9-0 to Yugoslavia.
